Patriotism, American Muslims and Senator Obama
By Dr. Nazir Khaja
Chairman, Islamic Information Service
Los Angeles, CA
From the beginning of the campaign when Senator Obama started to talk about" Change", repeatedly promising to his supporters a paradigm shift from the beltway ways of doing thing, or "politics as usual" he brought hope to many.
Every one put his faith in the Senator’s promise of being a catalyst for change. There is no Black America or White America; there is one America, he said. It is to the Senator’s credit that within a short time he was able to convince the skeptics in the Black community who had difficulty believing that he was truly from within the "Black Community" and not some outsider. Similarly, he also convinced a great many Whites to overcome their prejudice and fear of electing a Black person. This all seemed promising a proud moment to see America overcome its prejudice and accept a Black man as a leader of all. Every one started to believe that they "all were on the same bus" with the Senator and so did the American Muslim community.
The American Muslim community has been trying hard all these years to get properly assimilated within America. Unfortunately, 9/11 has dealt a serious blow to their effort. It is agonizing for the Muslims that the actions of a few of their coreligionists have caused such colossal damage, both to America and also to Islam and Muslims themselves. .
America is in the grip of fear and in the name of security more and more Americans are being made to surrender their individual rights and liberties. The American Muslims are additionally burdened by being under constant suspicion and surveillance. Despite the difficulties they face at this critical time they have abiding faith in this country's foundational values and principles that Senator Obama so eloquently invokes in speech after speech. The words of hope, healing, and change from the Senator were encouraging for them in these difficult times.
Almost everyone concedes that being politically correct is an essential part of wining elections in this country. That the influence of special interest groups who are heavy donors to the campaign plays a major role in shaping the ideas and rhetoric of the candidate is also well recognized and, sadly, also accepted. The American Muslims realize this as much as others. Yet along with others who have bought into the Senators` message of change and renewal the expectation has been that the Senator will break the mould and show the kind of leadership he has been talking about throughout.
Much to the disappointment of the Muslim community the interaction of the Obama campaign and the Senator himself with issues related to Islam and Muslims leads one to draw a different conclusion. It appears to the Muslims that there is clearly a dissonance between the Senator's words and his actions pertaining to his campaign’s handling of issues that relate to the Muslim community and Islam. Either he is poorly informed or he prefers being politically correct or in-fact both.
Going back to the beginning of his campaign when the issue of the Senator being a "closet Muslim" was raised by those who wanted to discredit him, his response appropriately was to reaffirm his Christian Faith on public airways and dispel the falsehood. This was proper and yet it left the Muslim community thinking as to why he could not go the extra distance to point out to his inquisitors that even if he was a Muslim, why was it such an offence in a nation which upholds religious freedom and equality. The sensitivity around this question and the need for the Senator to be politically correct was understood by the Muslim community, which continued to respond to his message with great enthusiasm. They were left wondering though if the senator was accused of being a Jew, would he be responding in the same manner.
The standoffishness towards the Muslims continued. He arrived at the AIPAC convention and expectedly like the other candidates strongly endorsed Americas` support and commitment to Israel. Only he did one better. He declared that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capitol of Israel. To the Muslims and others including some in the Jewish community who have been working hard towards a peaceful settlement of the Middle East problem, this seemed grossly insensitive coming at a time of heightened tensions in the area.
Besides exposing the Senator's disregard to the sensitivities around this complex issue, this contrary to his claims also showed that the Senator is no different from others in putting political correctness before that which is right and that special interest groups do have a hold on him.
As he continues his "Patriotism" journey across the country he would be well advised to contemplate the words of wisdom of one of the Founding Fathers, George Washington, "So likewise a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification."
Adding insult to injury the Muslims were shocked recently when the Obama campaign barred two women with Hijab – the head cover that some Muslim women wear - from sitting behind him within the TV camera range as he was going to speak in Detroit. The city is home to a large Arab-Muslim community and this sent shock waves within the community.
The Senator later apologized to the Muslims.
All of this is giving the message to the Muslims that the Senator is either unable to reconcile the idea of Patriotism with the American Muslim community or to be politically correct he deliberately chooses to avoid the inclusiveness of Muslims, inherent in the idea.
It is still early in the campaign and despite these bumps in the road the American Muslims like to believe that the Senator has not lost his way. As he emphasizes, this is the most critical election, which impacts not just the future of our country but also the whole world. We hope that the Senator will re-engage with the American Muslims more positively in the coming months for the sake of that future. This will be consistent with the values and ideals he articulates.
nazir.khaja@gmail.com
